Films have influenced our lives in the way no other medium of entertainment has done. Even a small incident concerning the life of film stars becomes a big news. It is due to the importance attached to films and the persons concerned with them. Before the invasion of television in the Indian homes, cinema was the cheapest means of entertainment. Films have always occupied the centre stage on the television screen too. Even after the advent of round-the-clock satellite channels, it has continued to share the majority of air time. There are many channels fully devoted to cinema. Even newspapers have not remained aloof from it. They carry articles concerning films on weekly and daily basis. They gossip about film personalities, their affairs, and carry quizzes and blow-ups. Cinema has dealt with most of the social problems India has faced in the past or is facing today. It can be more...

So much construction has taken place in towns and cities that they appear to be 'jungles of concrete'. Wherever we may look, towns and cities are full of concrete structures. A public park is, no doubt, a soothing sight to the eye. We are fortunate that there is a public park near our house. it is' called the ChanarasneKnar Park. It is situated in a large ground and is divided into two sections. One section is the garden. It has a large beautiful entrance which leads to a large circle with the fountain in the middle. It is surrounded by tall and dense trees on all sides. The fountain is surrounded by rows of small plants and grass lawns. It also has some cement benches for people to sit on. The colourful water in the fountain gives a splendid sight. People come here for a picnic. The other section is more...

"The oxide on aluminum is naturally corrosion resistant, an insulator and very tenacious." Mario S. Pennisi, consultant A rusty automobile is a shame. A rusty piece of aluminum, however, is not only desirable, it is anodized. When exposed to oxygen, pure aluminum metal builds up a layer of aluminum oxide. The aluminum oxide has a significantly greater resistance to corrosion and abrasion and consequently serves as a sturdy shell to protect the rest of the aluminum. Anodizing is a process right out of a mad scientist movie. In 1927 Charles Gbw.er and Stafford O'Brien patented a sulfuric acid anodizing process that is now the most common way to anodize aluminum. The aluminum is first immersed in electrified sulfuric acid. Electric charges cause oxygen to build up on the surface of the aluminum, creating a thick coat of aluminum oxide. Next, the aluminum can be easily colored and used in countless more...

Anyone taking a medication only once a day should thank Alejandro Zaffaroni (b. 1923). It was his pioneering attitude that brought about slow-release medications, including drugs that are absorbed through the skin and five-year reversible birth control. In 1949 Zaffaroni received a PhD from the University of Rochester in New York after his thesis on quantitative analysis of natural steroids. His work had taught him that organisms generally released steroids in small amounts over relatively long periods of time. This was in stark contrast to most medications of the 1940s, which involved relatively large doses in pill-like forms. In 1968 he founded Alza (an acronym of his own name) to pursue his concept of improving medical treatment through controlled drug delivery. He had seen the side effects that many medicines produced when they were sent to the bloodstream all in one massive dose, and knew there had to be a more...

"[Give people] a Post-it® note and they immediately know what to do with it and see its value." Arthur Fry The Post-it® is a small reminder note, stuck temporarily to documents, computers, and other prominent spots. Launched commercially in 1980 by Arthur Fry (b, 1931) and Spencer Silver (b. 1941), employees of 3M in the United States, the notes are available in a wide range of shapes and colors, although the original yellow, three- inch (7.5 cm) square note is still the most popular. In 1968 Silver developed a "low-tack" reusable adhesive made of tiny, indestructible acrylic spheres. Sticking to a given surface at a tangent rather than flat against it, the adhesive was sufficiently strong enough to hold papers together, but weak enough to separate them without tearing. Silver envisaged its application as a spray, or as a surface for notice hoards. He spent five unsuccessful years promoting his more...

Telegraphing is a way of sending messages using wires and an electric current. At one end, the sender naps out a word with a switch. Each tap completes the circuit and allows electricity to flow. The electricity flows down wires to the receiver, where it powers an indicator dial or pointer, enabling the operator to observe the message coming in. Early forms of the telegraph were based on electrolysis, in which electricity passes through a liquid to produce a visual effect. Samuel Thomas von Sommering'S early electrolysis telegraph consisted of thirty wires immersed in acidic water, one for each letter of the German alphabet. As the letters were tapped and the circuit completed, an electrochemical reaction produced a flow of hydrogen bubbles. The message was easily deciphered by watching which wire produced the bubbles. Baron Pavel Schilling (c. 1780-1836) decided to collaborate with von Sommering to invent a more practical more...

In 1835, shortly after the American Joseph Henry (1797-1878) became a professor at Princeton University, he passed crude on/off messages from his laboratory to his nearby home on campus using an electromagnetic relay and a current-carrying wire. In the early relays, switching an electrical current on or off magnetized the relay's electromagnet core, and this magnetic field attracted a pivoting iron armature, which itself operated a set of contacts that made or broke an electrical circuit. One of the advantages of such relays was that the current through the electromagnet could be very small, and the switched-circuit current could be much larger. Relays formed the basis of the telegraph system and were at the heart of telephone exchanges. In modern industry, electromagnetic relays are used to control electric motors and are a vital component of automated systems of machine manufacture. Great advances have been made in relay design, mainly to more...

"We waste our lights in vain, like lamps by day..." William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet George Carwardine's (1887-1948) company was a car manufacturing factory and it was there that he came up with the idea of arranging springs on a metal arm that could be adjusted in orientation and yet stay in place when released. The design mimicked the. movement of the human arm and was inspired by the constant tension principle. He patented the design in 1931, but it was not until the year after that the idea came to him to use it to angle temporarily the direction of a lamp. To the moveable sprung arm, he attached a heavy base and a directional lamp, which allowed the lamp to be moved to face any direction but remain rigid in position. Carwardine found the lamps useful in his factory for illuminating the assembly process, but he soon realized more...

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were for decades commonly used in the cooling systems of refrigerators and in aerosol cans. However, when these usually inert compounds get zapped by radiation in the upper atmosphere, they are energized and produce chlorine radicals that react with ozone. This has led to a significant depletion in the ozone layer, notably at the North and South Poles. The world was on the brink of losing its natural protection from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays, mostly thanks to a household appliance used worldwide. Ironically, CFCs started out as savior compounds, replacing nasty substances such as ammonia and sulfur dioxide in refrigeration equipment. Faulty units would cause unpleasant illnesses and even deaths. The American Thomas Midgley (1889-1944) first proposed CFCs as refrigerants in 1928, demonstrating their suitability with theatrical flourish—he proved their lack of reactivity and toxicity by inhaling the gas and then exhaling onto a lit candle. Developed with more...

The backhoe loader, or JCB®, was invented by Joseph Cyril Bamford (1916-2001) of Staffordshire, England. In 1945, using only scrap metal, war surplus Jeep axles, and a cheap welding kit, he produced an hydraulically operated tipping trailer that he later sold for £45 ($180 at the time). With the dump truck-like tipping trailer created, Bamford's business grew steadily as he designed and built new machines using hydraulic power. When the backhoe loader was created in 1953, the JCB®  logo was used for the first time, based on its inventor's initials. Typical backhoe loaders are made up of three components: a tractor, a loader, and a backhoe. The tractor enables the backhoe loader to traverse difficult terrain of all sorts. At the front of the tractor, the loader can scoop, smooth, and push great quantities of material. Meanwhile, the back of the tractor sports a backhoe, which is a large maneuverable more...